Communications systems, such as cable television and telephone systems, utilize fiber optics technology. In optical systems, many different types of equipment are utilized, and the various equipment is frequently housed in racks. These racks may house optical equipment such as laser transmitters, optical couplers, splice shelves, and optical pretermination units, as well as various other types of equipment. The racks typically have a number of rack spaces in which the equipment is mounted, with the rack spaces typically being arranged vertically in the rack. Each rack space is typically standardized to fit a unit of a predetermined size. For example, each rack space may be dimensioned to house a piece of equipment that is 7 inches high, as is common in the art. Many different connections are typically made between these various pieces of equipment in a rack, and also between the equipment in the rack and equipment in other racks located nearby. Therefore there are many optical fibers leading to and from the equipment in the rack.
With the many optical fibers connecting equipment in the rack, there is a need to organize the fibers as they run to and from the equipment. Prior organizing devices include a metal spool-shaped member mounted at a fixed location adjacent each rack space. Each spool allows the fibers entering or exiting the equipment housed in a rack space to be laid on the spool and directed toward its intended destination. However, a drawback of this current implementation is that the spool is located at a fixed position adjacent to each rack space. Because some equipment housed in the rack space may be a different height than other equipment, the fixed spool is often located at an improper position relative to such equipment, thus making it difficult or impossible to use the fixed spools to organize the fibers entering or exiting the equipment.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for an adjustable device that can be positioned at one of a plurality of different locations such that the device can be positioned according to the size of the equipment housed in the rack.